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ABC Faces Life After Jennings (NYT)
Even as it became clear that Peter Jennings appeared to be losing his battle with lung cancer, the network chose not to begin assembling an extended video compilation in anticipation of his death. Boston Globe: Gibson, Woodruff seen as likely successors as ABC anchor. NYT: Among the chatty anchors, Jennings' was a voice of civility, writes Alessandra Stanley. USAT: Jennings death leaves big void in network news. Toronto Star Editorial: We salute Peter Jennings for showing Americans the steady, authoritative face of a true Canadian. LAT: Jennings' death "took ABC's conscience." WaPo: Passing of Jennings has that "end of era feel," writes Howard Kurtz. NYP: Scores of Jennings fans vowed to quit smoking in his honor yesterday—and medical experts predict the late newsman's televised admission that he had lung cancer would save lives.

Ebony Founder John Johnson Dies (AP via Chicago Sun-Times)
Johnson went into business with a $500 loan secured by his mother's furniture and built a publishing and cosmetics empire that made him one of the wealthiest and most influential black men in the U.S. NYT: Johnson sometimes said he was in the business of inspiring people. WaPo: Johnson's two most famous magazines will remain fixtures in black America.

Holley Becomes the New Jane (Folio:)
Brandon Holley, ElleGirl's founding editor and the new editor of Jane, needs to embrace a role that was developed and has always been inhabited by her predecessor. NYP: Holley will have to quell restless advertisers.

Ruling Expected Today in Disney/Ovitz Suit (Marketwatch)
The Delaware Court of Chancery will rule on whether Disney's board of directors did its job when Eisner hired his good friend as Disney's president nearly a decade ago.

Murdoch Eyes VoIP Provider Skype (Red Herring)
News Corp. reportedly has been in talks to acquire the Luxembourg-based VoIP provider for about $3 billion. The combination of News Corp. with Skype surprised some observers. Reuters via Melbourne Herald Sun: Liberty unlikely to unload News Corp. stake.

FCC To Launch Radio Payola Investigation (Marketwatch)
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin said the commission will investigate allegations that Sony BMG Music Entertainment improperly used its influence to get its songs played.

Another Martha Deputy Gone After Nasty Snub (NYP)
Heidi Diamond, a veteran cable TV exec in charge of the domestic diva's television comeback, split after seeing her responsibilities undercut and taken over by reality-TV honcho Mark Burnett.

New Reality Show to Feature Atoosa Rubenstein (WWD)
The Seventeen EIC recently concluded taping for her new MTV reality series. On the show, 17 teenage girls will compete for a chance to intern at the magazine and appear on its cover.

NYC Radio Station Fined for 'Smackfests' (Reuters via Yahoo!)
Hot 97 has agreed to pay $240,000 after sponsoring "smackfest" contests in which young women took turns slapping each other for a chance to win concert tickets and cash.

Wasserstein Snags Primedia Biz Unit (NYP)
Bid 'em up" Bruce swooped in as the winning bidder of National Hog Farmer and other trade titles and Web sites contained in the Primedia business-to-business group. He's agreed to pay $385 million.

Terror Attacks Complicate Brit Media's 'Silly Season' (Guardian)
There had been fears that the 15 percent dip in tube passengers would affect newspaper circulation. But anecdotal evidence suggests readers' appetite for terror coverage has offset much of the decline.

Does Opus Dei Discipline Keep Novak Mum? (Radar)
The columnist has so far managed to ignore persistent demands that he reveal his involvement in the Valerie Plame leak, a feat of rare fortitude that some say is a hallmark of the controversial Catholic group.

Blogs Don't Threaten Mainstream Journos (CSM)
Dante Chinni: Bloggers don't have time or staff to, say, launch an investigation into the workings of the Department of State. Getting leaks is one thing, digging for the fuller story is quite another. BBC: In August 1991, Sir Tim Berners-Lee created the first website. Fourteen years on, he talks about how blogging is closer to his original idea about a read/write web.

Hispanic Mags Increasingly in English (Chicago Tribune via HispanicBusiness)
Eager to reach younger and more affluent U.S. Hispanics, advertisers, publishers, and cable television networks are discovering it is best to speak to them in their own language—English.

Chilean Author's Posthumous Novel Crowns Career (NYT)
With the posthumous success of Roberto Bolano's 2666, an extravagantly encyclopedic novel that traverses two continents and eight decades, his reputation and legend are in meteoric ascent.

Just Don't Judge Him on His Portfolio (B&C)
John Roberts has more personal holdings in media and related tech companies (15 to 40 percent of his $3 million in stock investments) than any of the sitting Supremes.

Young Journo Dies of Malaria at NABJ Convention (Staten Island Advance)
Akilah Amapindi, an up-and-coming journalist from Staten Island who hoped to use her career to fight social injustice, contracted the disease while working as a radio intern in southern Africa.

Ethiopian Journo Takes Cue From NYT's J.Diddy (CPJ)
Ethiopia's Supreme Court has sentenced a newspaper editor to one month in jail on a contempt charge after the editor refused to identify an unnamed source who criticized an earlier court ruling.

—David S. Hirschman

IN YESTERDAY'S MB BLOGS:

Remembering Peter: More Memories [TVNewser]
Cary, ABC-TV: "I was the last person to hand Peter a microphone on the day his diagnosis was made public, as he sat down to record what was to be his final on-air appearance.

A Look Inside the Situation Room [FishbowlDC]
"It's a different way to look at cable news churn," CNN Washington Bureau Chief David Bohrman explained to us during an exclusive tour and interview Friday. Instead of the typical show, which runs like a packaged version of the evening news-complete with a beginning, middle, and an end-the Situation Room will focus raw news as it comes in. "This treats the day as not-yet-finished..."

The Weekend NYT, through a fish(tern)-eye lens [FishbowlNY]
Thank goodness for Fishterns with the time and wherewithal to devour the Sunday Times and spit it back up again, just for you. Thanks be to Fishtern Fritz Brantley for hunkering down for some serious Q.T. with the Gray Lady ("gray" seeming to be the operative word this weekend) and giving us his own pithy and inimitable rundown.

Current TV: If It's Too Short, You're Too Old [FishbowlLA]
I spent some quality time over the weekend with Current TV, Al Gore's new LA and SF-based cable network, the programming of which consists entirely of 'pods' no longer than seven minutes, introduced by trendily-dressed Gen-Y hosts. In other words, it's like MTV, without the music, or the sex, or the glamour.

Wait, Cities Change? [UnBeige]
A couple months ago, slightly bored (shhhh) with the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit on view at the Skyscraper Museum, we stumbled across Douglas Levere's work -- a picture taken with the same camera and of the exact same-frame location as 1930's photographer Berenice Abbott.

Have You Been Ripped Off? [mbToolbox]
A frequent topic that comes up on the bulletin boards is whether a writer has had an idea ripped off from an editor. The odds are, it probably doesn't happen as much as writers think, but it probably does happen.